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AC Cars plans to relaunch in Europe

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AC Cars is relaunching in Europe in an attempt to carve out a long-lasting niche for models based on the styling of the 1960s Cobra-lookalike muscle car.

But the relaunch at the Geneva motor show was held back by a customs dispute in the United Kingdom that delayed the arrival of three new cars on a transporter.

New funding was found for the venture by Al Lubinsky, who owns the AC brand name and whose previous attempts to rejuvenate the marque have been doomed to failure.

Lubinsky has licensed the manufacture of three AC models--the MkII, the MkVI and a new Zagato-bodied car--which will be made by three different companies, one in the United Kingdom, one in Germany and another in South Africa. Engines will be the 437-hp, 6.2-liter Chevrolet Camaro V8s.

The British-built MkII has a hand-beaten alloy body and original-style steel tube frame, while the German-built MkVI has a composite body and spaceframe chassis.

The coupe-style AC 378 GT Zagato is based on the Perana and will be built in South Africa.

Lubinsky has set up a new holding company, AC Cars (EU) Ltd., for the venture, which is targeting 80 sales a year in the United Kingdom and 200 in Europe. The holding company is headquartered in Cyprus, reviving memories of a failed venture by Lubinsky in Malta five years ago.

Lubinsky won development funding from the Maltese government to build cars on the Mediterranean island, but the venture collapsed in acrimony.

Now, in an attempt to make a fresh start, he has persuaded Sir Jeremy McKenzie, an AC owner and former high-ranking British army officer, to chair the new venture.

"I'm aware that we need to be more professional to make AC work again, but we think it can be done," McKenzie says.

The first task is to recruit a dealer network. A three-dealer network is being targeted in the United Kingdom.